Life & Style

Karan killed off Anushka in 'Ae Dil...' as revenge for his own unrequited love

'A film-maker is a God, you write, you create and you destroy,' said Johar

Entertainment Desk January 25, 2019

PHOTO: NDTV

Karan Johar has had many blockbusters to his name, most of which have received much critical acclaim. However, although his last directorial Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was as big, it ended up receiving flak for its somewhat problematic storyline.

Nonetheless, KJo is sticking to his guns and says he would change all of his films but the Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma-starrer.

In a recent interview with Huffington Post, the film-maker was asked whether he would like to change any of his films, if given the chance. Johar responded saying he would have change something about all of them except his last directorial Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

"I have a problem with all my films except Ae Dil Hai Mushkil because that’s a film I wanted to make even while knowing that the last act may get a polarised response," he commented. "It’s a film I wanted to make because it’s personal and was cathartic for me. Ranbir (Kapoor) played me. I wanted to deal with the injury caused by a heartbreak."

He added, "I have issues with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Student of the Year, My Name is Khan...all of them but about Ae Dil, I wouldn’t change a thing."

Talking about how he was sure that the star cast of the film (Ranbir, Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Fawad Khan) would land it in the coveted INR100 crore club, Johar remarked, "When I made this film, I felt that it should make 100 crores. I wanted Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to make its money back, which it did and was declared a good film."

But then, the director said, "I felt like Sharma’s character Alizeh, who doesn’t reciprocate Ayan’s feelings, didn’t love him and so, she had to die."

Umm, what?

"I wrote this character who loved Alizeh so crazily. She could’ve loved him back, why couldn’t she? So she got cancer and she died," the director went on.

Was that his way of punishing Alizeh? "Well, she got punished, I wrote it," Johar said. "See, a film-maker is like God. You write, you create and you destroy."

Johar also felt Ranbir as Ayaan was justified in sending Alizeh on a guilt-trip the entire film. "To me, he was just a puppy in love and it’s not like Alizeh didn’t love him. She just didn’t love him in the way that he wanted her to love him," he explained. " About the physical aggression (a scene in the film), I apologise. That is not something I had thought of earlier and I should have."

However, that's the only thing Johar is sorry for. "I am not apologetic about Ayaan's relentlessness and his love, because he loved her even after she was gone," he said. "He never stopped loving her. That’s the way I feel about the big loves of my life. I will never stop loving them and I may not go so relentless in my pursuit of love but I believe Ayaan was a lover."

So, couldn't Johar just let Alizeh could her own way? Did she have to be killed off? Apparently, yes. "That was also a thought, yes. But I said, 'No, she has to die.' I could not have gone indie on it. This is how I envisaged Ae Dil to be. I wanted Alizeh to die and I didn’t change that till the end."

Twitter, of course, wasn't happy with what he had to say.

Karan Johar saying he killed Anushka in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to punish her is the most unsurprising and fucked up thing I've read today. pic.twitter.com/3EzePlve7v
— Sonia Mariam Thomas (@SoKneeOh) January 24, 2019

Karan Johar saying he killed off Alizeh in ADHM because she didn’t love Ayan and chalking it off as karma is disgusting because we still live in a day and age where women are constantly attacked or killed for not reciprocating feelings and we are NOT going to romanticize that
— sai (@Saisailu97) January 24, 2019